Getting Physical

"Precious"

Brianne Nelson

cast in yellow brass

2015

A group from the School of Art at R.I.T. went to China on an invitation to work on their sculptures. 

Here is what Brianne Nelson wrote about the experience: "This was one of three pieces cast in Jingdezhen, China during my study abroad.  It is bubble wrap that has been memorialized in yellow brass.  I have taken a common object, usually used to protect something precious that one wouldn't want damaged, and recreated it in a very strong, heavy, precious metal.

Brianne makes art that is literally about transformation.  In this case she takes something light and very flexible, and reworks it into a much more stable, colorful form that probably won't pop under pressure.  The cast edges are still rough and invite you to touch them.  The piece is also about color and texture as you can see in the photograph above.

In the following transformation by Leena Sonbuol, we have a view of a garment, made of cloth that is transformed into something that is like a diagram, or a drawing in space using wire and color to fill a void.  Leena provides a description and two photos which are almost like a before and after.  First study the documentary photograph and then see two views of the sculpture.

  

photo by Leena Sonbuol

The shemagh

Artwork size: 4' 5"

The shemagh (شماغ šmāġis) is a traditional headdress which is common for hundreds of years in the Middle East. I wove the shemagh sculpture from more than 1,750 feet of the silver, and red metal wire twisted to create the real size of shemagh, and I decorated it with 480 red beads. On a symbolic level, this shemagh presents the missing man in my life that is my father. The red complex wire line in the sculpture reflects the life line and the obstacles that he was facing until he passed away.

"The Shemagh"

Sculpture by Leena Sonbuol